Three Things To Read This Week

1. First In The Nation: After more than two years of preparation, psilocybin-assisted treatment programs are now seeing clients in Oregon.

Reporting for KATU 2, Portland’s local ABC affiliate, Christina Giardinelli describes the steps that had to happen before the treatment centers could begin operating, how a session unfolds, and what regulators require for continued operation of treatment facilities:

“Before [psilocybin] could be available to consumers, the Oregon Health Authority was tasked with creating rules and regulations. OHA began issuing the first licenses in April. Before a full rollout could occur, the department needed to license facilitators, service centers, manufacturers and testing labs … OHA has now licensed 57 facilitators and six service centers. The product they use has to come from a state licensed manufacturer and must be tested by a licensed laboratory.

…

Facilitators are in the room with clients while they are under the effects of psilocybin, and the client needs to arrange for a safe ride from the facility once the effects of the mushroom have worn off. On average, a session lasts six or seven hours depending on the quantity ingested.”

2. “Minneapolis Backs Off Arrests For Psychedelic Plant Use.” 

Per the Associated Press, last week, in Minneapolis, “Mayor Jacob Frey on Friday ordered police to stop using taxpayer dollars to enforce most laws against hallucinogenic plants. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara in a statement said he stands by the mayor’s decision.” 

Another prominent supporter: The New York Times also covered the story, which included an interview with Adam Tomczik, a Minneapolis prosecutor, who struggled with severe depression, heavy drinking, and suicidal thoughts before finding relief from psychedelic-assisted treatment:

“‘It was like being in a bottomless pit and you can’t climb out’... Desperate for a reprieve, Mr. Tomczik said he was treated with infusions of ketamine, an anesthetic that is lawfully prescribed off label to treat depression. [The] sessions helped Mr. Tomczik quit drinking and he began thinking more clearly and felt considerably better.”

But there is a difference between the de-prioritization—or even decriminalization—of psychedelic medicine that’s happening in Minneapolis and the regulated access of psychedelic-assisted treatment that’s happening in Oregon. The most important difference is safe and legal access to treatment. Take, for example, the prosecutor in Minneapolis who tried Ketamine, but did not try psilocybin—because psilocybin isn’t legal in Minnesota. From the New York Times:

“[The prosecutor’s] therapist told him he would most likely find more lasting relief by taking psilocybin mushrooms, but that was a nonstarter for Mr. Tomczik, who is paid to uphold the law.”

3. Renewed Bipartisan Push In Congress For Psychedelics Research. 

For the Washington Examiner, Gabrielle Etzel reports that Representatives Dan Crenshaw, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Lou Correa are leading the push to “create a federal grant program through the National Defense Authorization Act for research into the use of psychedelics for active duty military service members suffering from a traumatic brain injury or PTSD due to their service.” 

The three Members of Congress held a press conference on the topic in mid-July, and the full fourteen minute video is worth your time:

But here is the TL;DR version:

• Representative Ocasio-Cortez said that she supports robust federal grants for psychedelic medicine research because Members of Congress have a “moral responsibility as legislators to do everything we can to help members of our Armed Forces suffering from PTSD—as well as helping thousands of survivors of sexual assault trauma violence and beyond.”
  
  The Congresswoman also described the “enormous amount of progress that's being made in the study and advancement of psychedelic research in the applications of PTSD for our veterans communities.” She also relayed how the “first time we introduced a bill to remove the barriers to studying the medical benefits of psychedelics it failed by a lot, but after that vote failed many people across the country gathered and rallied … and offices were bombarded by phone calls and letters from veterans who knew how important studying these drugs were for addressing PTSD.”
  
  “But now we don't even need to introduce an amendment because much of what we are fighting for has been put into the original Bill text thanks to the hard work of our many members who supported our efforts on the House Armed Services Committee.”

• Representative Crenshaw underscored the broad coalition supporting expanded psychedelic medicine research: “You've got extremely conservative Republicans, moderate Republicans, you've got extremely progressive Democrats, moderate Democrats—everybody's on the same page, because there's a realization that these therapies are working.” 
  
  The Congressman, who is a former Navy SEAL, said that he has “so many friends—either current or former service members” for whom psychedelic medicine has helped treat an addiction or PTSD. Though Crenshaw said that expanded access should “start with our veterans, the possibilities are endless from there—there's promise on drug addiction … there's promise for victims of sexual trauma … law enforcement officers who deal with what they deal with every single day … there's a lot of people in our country that could use effective treatments that are feeling hopeless right now.”